People with asthma or respiratory illness should stay inside, health authorities warn
Sydney woke up to a thick blanket of smoke over the city on Tuesday as New South Wales headed into the first of two “tough days” this week, with temperatures likely to rise to the 40s and little-to-no rainfall forecast.
Most of the state’s east coast was under severe or very high fire danger ratings, with more than 50 bushfires burning, of which 28 remained uncontained.
Continue reading...Catastrophic fire conditions in New South Wales ease, but dozens of Australian bushfires remain burning. In Queensland, 60 fires are burning, with strong winds and temperatures in mid-30s forecast to make for hazardous conditions on Australia’s east coast
• Factcheck: are greens really stopping bushfire hazard reduction?
• Open thread: tell us how you’re affected by the fires
• Sydney suburb in the pink after surviving bushfire emergency
• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland
Residents of Pechey (near Hampton) have been told to leave now, and head towards the New England highway.
“There is a bushfire in Pechey and Hampton and conditions are getting worse,” QFES says. “A fast moving fire is travelling from Grapetree Road towards Deeth Road, Sewell Road, Parker Road, Bush Road and Misty Mountain Road. It is currently impacting Parker Road and Sewell Road. The fire could have on the significant impact on the community.”
LEAVE NOW: Pechey (near Hampton) bushfire as at 1pm Wed 13 Nov: https://t.co/ZLMRe45vEu
Images of Walkers Point, which is also at “leave now”.
Residents at Walkers Point, south of Bundaberg, are being told to evacuate to Woodgate with firefighters battling a large bushfire @abcnews pic.twitter.com/pffLy1elsV
Continue reading...Exclusive: email from government directs attendees at conference on climate adaptation to stay quiet on bushfire-climate link
As bushfire conditions were declared “catastrophic” on Tuesday, New South Wales bureaucrats attending a conference on adaption to climate change were directed not discuss the link between climate change and bushfires.
Bureaucrats from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment were sent an email soon after the AdaptNSW 2019 Forum began, causing consternation among some attendees who saw it as tantamount to gagging them.
Continue reading...Rural Fire Service says a firefighter has been injured in Sydney as New South Wales faces catastrophic fire conditions across greater Sydney, Hunter and Illawarra/Shoalhaven with strong winds and high temperatures. Dozens of bushfires continue to burn across Queensland and Australia’s east coast
• Catastrophic fire danger: what does it mean?
• Open thread: tell us how you’re affected by the fires
• If you are in a bushfire affected area stay tuned to your local emergency broadcaster. Full alerts can be found here for NSW and here for Queensland
I take that back, the latest update has moved it back up to nine emergency alert level fires:
In the latest update from the RFS, they’ve downgraded six of the fires, meaning there are now four emergency alert level fires.
Those are:
Continue reading...More than 575 NSW schools to close as conditions forecast to worsen on Tuesday, while dozens of bushfires continue to burn across Australia’s east coast. This blog is now closed
This is where we’ll leave our rolling coverage today. Guardian Australia will be covering all the developments tomorrow. Here’s what’s happened so far:
ABC Weather has published an explanation of why Tuesday is looking so bad: it’s a cold front.
“Tomorrow with the winds you’ll be seeing a more south-easterly direction,” Grace Legge, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, told the ABC.
Why a cold front signals disaster for fire danger https://t.co/NOr4mZ54B3 via @ABCNews pic.twitter.com/3ZrwsfqZeg
Continue reading...Three people dead, seven or more missing and more than 150 homes destroyed
• Bushfires blaze across Australia’s east coast – in pictures
• Braving the blazes: footage of bushfires ravaging coast
Three people have been killed and there were fears for another seven still missing after uncontrolled bushfires destroyed more than 150 homes over thousands of hectares of eastern Australia.
At a fire in the Kangawalla area, near Glen Innes on the New South Wales north coast, a body was found in a burnt-out car by a volunteer firefighter.
Continue reading...NSW’s Glen Innes the site of confirmed deaths and missing persons, as 77 bushfires still burn across the east-coast states
• Full report: At least 100 homes destroyed in NSW and Queensland fires
There have been a few questions to the PM, including one about the ferocity of these early fires and links to climate change.
“My only thoughts today are those who lost their lives and their families, the firefighters fighting the fires, the response effort that has to be delivered, and how the the Commonwealth can support those efforts,” he replied.
“We always have to listen carefully to the warnings, and undertake the preparations that are advised in every single season. I think that Australians increasingly understand that and I would be encouraging them to revisit their fire preparation plans. The fire might be on your doorstep today, but as we go into every fire season and every summer season, the risk is ever present, and it’s important that families understand what the evacuation procedures are. What numbers to call. What things to ready themselves with, and how they can best prepare their properties in the event of a firestorm.”
Prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking now – and he’s flagged a “contingency option” of further involvement of the defence forces.
He said the deployment of ADF – beyond the airlifts they’re already doing – hadn’t been requested yet, but he and relevant ministers were discussing having them ready.
Continue reading...There are fears that some people are trapped in their homes in an unprecedented bushfire emergency
Ok, we’re going to leave it there for this evening. Thanks for joining us and we’ll be back in the morning with more reporting on the bushfire situation.
For information about current bushfire warnings monitor emergency websites, including www.rfs.nsw.gov.au and www.qfes.qld.gov.au.
Stranded by the fires today. Disconcerting when you watch dozens of fire trucks laden with firies rush past under lights and sirens. As a journo I know how hard the firefighters work, but on days like today, thank god for the @NSWRFS and @FRNSW #nswfires pic.twitter.com/SCGPfdmtv9
Continue reading...Thousands of firefighters have been battling wildfires across California, after warm temperatures, strong winds and low humidity turned the state into a 'tinderbox'. So is this the new normal?
As authorities lifted all evacuation orders imposed by a wildfire that caused thousands to flee their homes north-west of Los Angeles, Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding for aid during the kind of blazes that have hit California hard this fall.
Related: ‘Not our mission’: private fire crews protect the insured, not the public
Continue reading...A new brush fire in Ventura county, north of Los Angeles, has rapidly grown to more than 11 square miles. The latest blaze, called the Maria fire, erupted on Thursday evening as crews in northern and southern California continued to try to put out multiple fires that have burned hundreds of acres and prompted thousands of residents to flee their homes
Continue reading...New blazes in southern California on Thursday burned homes and forced residents to flee, as strong Santa Ana winds of up to 60mph fueled a ring of wildfires around the Los Angeles area.
In San Bernardino, a city of just over 200,000 people, a new wildfire that broke out in the early hours of Thursday torched several homes and forced evacuations. Less than 20 miles away in Riverside county, evacuations were issued after a fire in the city of Jurupa Valley started shortly after midnight, spreading to 300 acres.
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Early reports indicate that a new blaze has broken out in Fullerton in Orange County, one of roughly a dozen new fires that have ignited today alone. Cal Fire hasn’t yet posted details on Fullerton fire, but we’ll bring you new details as they emerge.
A brush fire has started in the Brea Dam area of Fullerton. FULLERTON FIRE, Orange County Fire Authority Air Ops, and Fullerton PD are all on-scene. Updates to follow. AVOID THE AREA. pic.twitter.com/fMuEXVtIDJ
The terror of a wildfire tearing through communities, consuming homes, is likely unimaginable for anyone who hasn’t lived through, or fled from one. And in the wake of a blaze, those stories abound.
But every once in a while a picture of humanity will emerge from the ashes — a kind of happy ending against a backdrop of destruction. We’ve seen a few of those this week already, as fires ignited up and down the state.
“She had a really gorgeous, beautiful, straightforward birth,” said Bee Lauher, a licensed midwife, who delivered the baby along with Napa Valley Midwives partners Heather Hilton and Kristina Parks, as first reported by the Napa Valley Register....
This isn’t the first time the Napa Valley Midwives have worked in a hotel during a crisis. In 2017, they delivered a baby at the Westin Verasa Napa with the Wine Country fires burning close by.
The equestrian community has consistently come together during fires. Volunteers often find people who need help through word-of-mouth or on social media, especially through a Facebook group called Southern California Equine Emergency Evacuation.
“People come from all over to help out,” Perera said.
This man just showed up to save these alpacas. He’s trying to herd them out and push them across the road #KincadeFire.
Still on Chalk Hill Road. The man, who wouldn’t give his name, lives in a ranch across from these guys. He moved them all over to his place. pic.twitter.com/JDqERpLXpT
Omg I could cry pic.twitter.com/IAvWpX9EAZ
Continue reading...Blaze around Lake Innes and Lake Cathie in northern NSW has destroyed more than 2,000 hectares and spread smoke haze to Sydney
Hundreds of koalas are feared to have died in an out-of-control bushfire in northern New South Wales which has raged unchecked for days in the heartland of their prime habitat.
The blaze, reportedly caused by a lightning strike near Port Macquarie, has burned more than 2,000 hectares, including an important koala breeding ground.
Continue reading...Millions of Californians prepared for days of darkness as the United States’ largest utility once again said it was switching off power to prevent powerful winds from damaging its equipment and sparking more fires.
Meanwhile, firefighters were battling wildfires across the state on Tuesday, as winds were expected to pick up again. The Kincade fire in Sonoma county, in the north, had destroyed 124 homes and other structures by Tuesday morning and was threatening 90,000 structures. Crews were also working to control a fierce fire near the Getty Museum in Los Angeles that had prompted evacuations on Monday.
Continue reading...Two million still without power after weekend shutoffs as wine country fire scorches 66,000 acres
California firefighters raced against time on Monday to bring a raging wine country wildfire under control amid a lull in the weather, with warnings that the extreme winds fueling fires across the state could pick up again soon.
Violent winds of up to 100mph helped the Kincade fire, currently the largest burning in the state, to double in size over the weekend. The fire has scorched more than 66,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 structures, and forced an unprecedented evacuation of more than 185,000 people in the area.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands of people in California have been ordered to evacuate their homes as wildfires spread over the weekend. The Kincade fire in Sonoma County doubled in size on Sunday because of high winds, and wildfires broke out in Los Angeles near the J Paul Getty Museum. About 200,000 people are under evacuation orders across the state and millions are without power.
Continue reading...Thousands of firefighters in northern California battled to control wildfires fueled by howling el diablo winds, the largest of which forced at least 185,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Meanwhile, more than 2 million people were left without power as the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), shut off power in an attempt to keep wind-toppled electrical wires from sparking additional fires.
Continue reading...A doorbell camera captured residents evacuating the Santa Clarita neighbourhood in California as a wildfire loomed near their homes on Thursday. The footage showed the Ibarra family loading belongings into their car, before another man nearby warned residents to evacuate. Ben Ibarra told Reuters in a message that his family had safely evacuated to a hotel while he remained behind to keep an eye on things. An estimated 50,000 people were displaced by evacuation orders in and around Santa Clarita
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as dry, windy conditions fuel fires across the state
That does it for me here today as we shut down the blog on this Friday evening. It’s been a busy day, with firefighters battling blazes from wine country to northern Mexico.
As we head into the weekend, it’s worth noting that the confluence of weather elements, combined with potentially having to evacuate residents in the face of a power outage, could make for a pretty hairy few days. Winds are expected to pick up starting Saturday night, with speeds that some estimate could reach up to 80mph. In short, it’s a weather event that meteorologists are calling unprecedented.
The lights are back on for 99% of the customers who lost power in the latest planned power shutdown, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reports.
As of 5pm, the only customers who remained in the dark are those living in Sonoma county, where the Kincade fire has been burning since Wednesday night. PG&E says about 178,000 customers were impacted by the shutdown, including the Sierra Foothills, North Bay, San Mateo and Kern counties.
#BREAKING : I just shot this timelapse video showing a huge flareup developing at the #KincadeFire . I was the only reporter allowed this far up Pine Flat Road because I was just returning from the frontlines when the flareup happened. @kron4news pic.twitter.com/eMrcCbPPsy
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